


More Like Medium Rare

by Aria_Lerendeair



Series: Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash 2019 [10]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Brief Magnus Bane Angst, M/M, Meat Puns, Ragnor Fell is a damn good friend, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, adorable boys, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21648070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair/pseuds/Aria_Lerendeair
Summary: In a world where soulmate marks are the first words your soulmate says to you, Alec Lightwood has spent years wondering what on earth spurs his soulmate to say, "More like medium rare".
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash 2019 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560298
Comments: 25
Kudos: 781





	More Like Medium Rare

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic was inspired by THIS POST  
> made by immortals-malec that basically says, in summary - Just think if this was a soulmate au Alec and Magnus would’ve had the words “Well done” and “More like Medium rare.” written on their bodies. 
> 
> And honestly, how was I supposed to pass up something like that? Here's the answer. I WASN'T.

Soulmate marks are rare, but not unheard of, and if you are lucky enough to have one form when you turn eighteen, it means, out there in the world, there is a perfect match for you, someone who would be your other half. But as the world grows and expands, the likelihood of meeting your soulmate, of exchanging the words branded into your arm. 

  
~!~

  
Magnus lifted his arm and scowled at the two words branded into his arm and then watched his skin shimmer as he put up the glamour again. What a load of bullshit. Four centuries of life and he had met thousands of people who had uttered those words to him, and none of them had ever been his soulmate. What was the point in looking if you were never going to find them? 

  
The words branded into his arm - _Well done_ \- were a reminder that he’d never find his soulmate and looking didn’t matter. He had everything he could ever want in life, he didn’t need a soulmate. 

  
It was a convincing act if he did say so himself. But that didn’t stop him from telling Ragnor, after what was entirely too much whiskey and the heartbreak of Camille. He did want to find his soulmate. Wanted to know what kind of person they were. Why would they be so right for him? 

  
“You’ll find them someday, my friend. As an immortal, you certainly have plenty of time to look,” Ragnor reminded him. 

  
Magnus sighed and stared at the ceiling. “I’d much rather they find me. I can’t ask every person who says those words to me if they’re my soulmate. Do you know how often I hear those words on jobs, Ragnor?” 

  
Ragnor raised an eyebrow. “I’d imagine quite often.” 

  
“Exactly,” Magnus scoffed, downing more alcohol. “Why should I bother?” 

  
“Because you are lucky enough to have your perfect match out there. And, despite you not believing it, my dear friend, you deserve that person, whoever they are.” 

  
Magnus wrinkled his nose. “Stop being so nice.” 

  
Ragnor chuckled, leaning back into the chair. “Very well.” 

  
Drinking more of the whiskey likely wasn’t the best of ideas, but it was all he had right now as the silence stretched between them, Magnus couldn’t help sighing again. “Camille mocked me for them.” 

  
Ragnor sighed, sipping his drink. “Would you like me to curse her? Perhaps have all of her hair fall out?” 

  
Magnus wrinkled his nose. “She is not an enemy you want, Ragnor.” 

  
“And yet for you, she is one I would gladly make.” 

  
Magnus let the comfort of that statement sink into his bones and exhaled, hard. “Then that’s more than enough, for now.” 

  
~!~ 

  
Waking up with his eyes on the mark on his arm was more common than Alec would ever admit to. He traced the words and frowned at them, idly tracing the letters. No matter how much he would scoff at Izzy and Jace’s teasing about his soulmate mark, it was nice to know that out there, somewhere, there was someone for him. 

  
“More like medium rare,” he whispered, tilting his head. It was impossible to figure out the context of the words. He’d tried, and so had Jace and Izzy. Brainstorming for years, and he still wasn’t any closer to figuring out why he would be told this, of all things, as part of their first interaction. 

  
A glance at the clock told him it was time to get up and he sighed, pushing himself out of bed. He could ponder it more another day. 

  
Heading to Pandemonium, Alec was glad when they found out Magnus Bane was still alive, but then Circle members were attacking the club searching for the warlock and they had to keep him safe. Alec quickly ordered Jace and Izzy to scan the remainder of the club while he chased after the warlock and circle member. 

  
By the time he found them, they were taunting each other, waiting for an opening to attack. Hearing the man describe how he wanted to take Magnus’ eyes made his skin crawl and he let them circle once more before he fired, striking the Circle member in the knee, watching as the warlock quickly dispatched him with a blast of magic. 

  
“Well done!” Alec called, relaxing. 

  
“More like medium rare,” Magnus quipped back. He made sure the Circle member stayed down before spinning back over see it was the pretty archer who had saved him earlier. His eyes widened and he stepped closer, offering a smile. 

  
“I’m Magnus,” he said, striding closer. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.” 

_  
More like medium rare._ **_More like medium rare._** Alec stared at the warlock in shock as he approached, his heart pounding. He’d said it, he’d _said_ it, and that meant, did that mean….? He shook his head hard and focused on the conversation. There were still Circle members here and they could talk after, right? 

  
“A-Alec,” he managed, offering up a smile. A warlock was his soulmate. _This_ warlock. He was beautiful, and Alec could hardly believe that Magnus, that they were supposed to be… He shook himself and cleared his throat, gesturing over his shoulder. “We should, really, probably, uh, get…” 

  
“Right!” Magnus said with a smile. “We should join the party.” 

  
Alec couldn’t help smiling again even as his hand tightened again. “Right,” he whispered, turning and heading back out into the apartment. They could, they could always talk after, right? _Right_. They just needed a few minutes to themselves so they could talk about things. 

  
Except then they didn’t have time. They didn’t have time afterward, nor the next few days. Alec kept tracing his fingers over the words, and he had to wonder if Magnus knew - if he’d tried to find a few minutes, tried to get ahold of him too. But he had to be helping the other warlocks, had to keep them safe. They’d have time. They would. 

**_  
More like medium rare._ **

  
When the call came in from Jace that Magnus needed his help, needed him specifically, Alec didn’t hesitate to activate his Speed rune, sprinting for the loft. Bursting through the door, seeing the warlock on the point of collapse, Alec only just managed to catch him before he collapsed backward. Giving his strength to Magnus was as simple as breathing, and when Alec felt the tug of Magnus’ magic, he leaned into it, closing his eyes, feeling the words on his arm pulse impatiently. 

  
He didn’t even see Clary rush to give Luke the potion, instead all he saw was Magnus cradled in his arms, exhausted. Alec fought down the part of him that wanted to take care of Magnus, get him whatever he needed to be back to himself. He was more than a besotted teenager. He took a deep breath and carefully helped Magnus to his feet, telling the others he would stay back to help Magnus clean up. 

  
They didn’t protest, thankfully, though Jace gave him a look that he ignored, glad for once that his parabatai followed Clary’s lead without thinking. Alec turned back to where Magnus was mixing himself a drink and took his jacket off, deciding that the first thing he could do was clean the blood off of Magnus’ couch from Luke. 

  
Magnus turned, about to chastise Alec for cleaning up blood when he had magic for that when he froze at the sight of words on Alec’s arm. A shadowhunter with a soulmate mark? Unglamoured? He couldn’t resist walking closer, turning his head to look at the words. His own mocking quip from a few days before - _More like medium rare_ \- stared back at him and Magnus pressed his hand to the words on his arm. 

**_  
Well done._ **

  
The first words Alec had said to him. He hadn’t even…

  
“Magnus?” 

  
Magnus shook his head, taking a step back, meeting Alec’s eyes, and found himself catching his breath at the hesitant smile there. Four hundred and twenty seven years, and, and…

  
“Magnus, are you all right?” Alec said, standing with a frown. “You should be sitting down, especially after what you just did for Luke.” 

  
His mouth was dry and he stared at the shadowhunter. The shadowhunter who was supposedly his perfect match, everything he could ever want and more. He took a sip of his drink, for sake of something to do and glanced down at the words on Alec’s arm again. 

  
“You,” Magnus cleared his throat. “You should cover those up,” he said, gesturing to the words. 

  
Alec shrugged, walking towards Magnus. “Why? They’re yours,” he said simply. 

  
That simple statement shouldn’t devastate him as much as it does, but the glass cracks in Magnus’ fingertips before he gets himself under control and he takes another breath. 

  
Alec freezes mid-step. “Unless,” he swallows, staring at Magnus hesitantly. “Unless you don’t have mine?” What were the odds that two people in his life would use the same line? It couldn’t be possible, could it? 

  
Magnus looked down at his arm. Even through his glamour, he could see the familiar two words, etched into his arm. A torturous reminder, the common phrase he’d heard hundreds of thousands of times in his life. “I…” he couldn’t make words form. Here, now? That’s when this was going to happen? 

  
Alec took a few steps closer, reaching out to take Magnus’ wrist, looking at the smooth skin of his arm, rubbing his thumb over where the words should be. His heart jumped into his mouth and he glanced up at Magnus. “Do you…have it glamoured?” 

  
The hesitancy, the fear, in Alec’s voice is what makes him drops the glamour and the words shimmer into existence. He feels, rather than sees, Alec Lightwood’s breath catch, staring at the words. And this close, he gets a front row seat to the incandescently happy smile he’s given and Magnus feels the pulse of power from the words on his arm as Alec touches them again. 

  
Alec can’t help the small laugh that escapes. All of the ideas they’d had around his words, all of the suggestions thrown out by Izzy and Jace, and it had been a pun, a joke of all things. He feels giddy, and the rightness of what they could have settles into his bones as he looks at Magnus. “Are you all right?” 

  
“I didn’t think I’d ever find you,” Magnus admits, before he frowns. He hadn’t meant to say that. “They’re, they’re common words.” 

  
Alec nods, brushing his fingers over the words on Magnus’ arm again. “Lucky for us then, that mine were a bit more unique.” 

  
Magnus glanced down at the words on Alec’s arm and reaches out to touch them before hesitating. “May I?” 

  
“Yeah,” Alec whispers, his voice soft. Magnus’ fingers are pressing into his mark a moment later and his whole body jolts with the connection that is established between them in seconds. 

  
Magnus sucked in a hard breath, pressing his forehead to Alec’s shoulder at the bond between them that’s established and snapped into place. A possibility that had always been there was now a certainty, and both of their bodies were singing with it. 

  
They stand there in silence, pressed in close, both of them breathing, soft and quiet until Alec forced himself to move, just enough, wrapping an arm around Magnus, pulling him in closer, glad when the warlock sagged against him, still exhausted from earlier. 

  
“What do you say,” Magnus managed, his eyes fluttering a little as he leaned in against Alec. “To staying for a drink or two?” 

  
Alec couldn't help his smile as he nodded against Magnus’ hair, the scent of sandalwood surrounding him. “That, that sounds great.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Criticisms welcome!
> 
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